The Gifted’s “Fall Finale” earned the title “gaMe changer.” The Inner Circle made a more significant move than their bank heist last week. At the same time, the Mutant Underground is all but finished.
Let’s jump right in. Be warned; this review contains spoilers.
1. Rebecca didn’t ruin the Inner Circle’s plans.
Rebecca spoiled Reeva’s efforts to generate sympathy for the mutants. But Reeva had a larger plan, and it came to fruition in spite of Rebecca. Yet again, Reeva proved that her reputation as a ruthless foe and master planner is well-deserved. She masterminded a scheme to free every mutant Sentinel Service had in custody. Although it required almost criminal levels of negligence from Sentinel and the company that manages the collars. More about that below.
2. But Rebecca did pay for her impulsive tendencies.
The episode opens with a flashback to the day Rebecca was taken into custody by Sentinel. We learn a few things, but the big one is that she’s always been dangerous. She has enough control to turn a plate of pancakes inside out without so much as ruffling the tablecloth. So, when her mother says she “almost killed” a teacher we know it wasn’t an accident. It’s hard to blame her parents for reaching out for help.
When we return to the present, Rebecca is held under, as Andy points out, circumstances like Sentinel Services used on her. It’s tough to see her struggle and hear her screaming. Only the fact that she slaughtered 37 people tempered my pity. Why is Reeva keeping her alive? She says she needs her for the next step in the plan.
This turns out to be wrong and is the first hint of a rare plot hole in an episode of The Gifted.
Andy decides to break Rebecca out. She immediately sets out for revenge for her imprisonment. Andy, despite hours of practice in the Inner Circle’s, uh, Danger Room(?) accidentally kills her.
It’s tough to feel sorry for Rebecca. It’s almost a relief to see her gone since her primary purpose seemed to be “do impulsive stuff.”
3. Jace does it again.
Jace has reached celebrity status within the Purifiers, and he’s decided to embrace it. He makes his T.V. appearance with Benedict Ryan and declares the “mutant uprising” a terrorist movement. Then Jace goes one step further; the police and Sentinel Services have failed to stop the mutants. He’s founding a militia.
He returns to Purifier headquarters and appears to be running the show. Under his supervision, they arrive at the clinic after a battle Thunderbird, Eclipse, and Fade and capture John.
But can they hold him without a collar?
4. John loses it.
John’s frustration with himself finally boils over. He believes he needs to take on the Inner Circle if the Mutant Underground is going to gain the community’s trust again. He formulates a desperate plan to kidnap a civilian that works for Regimen, a tech company that Sentinel uses.
He convinces Marcos and Clarice to help him, without revealing the details, causing even more friction with Clarice. Even though the plan is desperate, it brings the group close to figuring out what the Inner Circle is up to. Close enough that they send Fade to stop it.
While John’s plan flirted with being out-of-character, it set up a great scene between him and Marcos. Giving him the chance to be the voice of reason for two episodes in a row. “The point of all this is not to fight in some big mutant war,” he tells John.
John’s actions may have finally driven the last wedge his relationship with Clarice will be able to handle. We last saw her storming off to fix part of the mess he made after he more or less accused her of being unfaithful. This scene made me sad because he’s been smarter than that until now.
5. The control system for all the mutant collars is what, exactly?
So, all the collars are controlled by a single computer network that resides in one place. After the ace systems architect that set up Equifax’s network finished that job, Regimen hired him to set up the collars. There’s no backup. No cloud. Not even the most basic redundancy. This was hard to believe.
Continued belowIt was also hard to believe that the only way into the data center was to have Andy break down the wall. One of the Frost sisters could have gotten them in the door. Lorna could take down a computer network that’s placed in one big room in seconds.
We have to suspend a lot of disbelief to watch these shows. Collars that can suppress imaginary superpowers are no less believable than the superpowers themselves. But this scene was tough to take, and the build-up to the finale ended up being a lot more exciting that then finale itself.
That’s it for “gaMe changer” and 2018. What do you think of The Gifted’s second season so far? What do you hope to see next? Let us know in the comments.
